Italy

The Italian National Baseball Team is back-to-back European Champions and has won 10 European titles overall finishing first or second in 25 of their 32 appearances. They have qualified for the 1992, 1996, 2000 and 2004 Olympics, and finished third overall in the last Intercontinental Cup in 2010. In the 2006 World Baseball Classic, Italy won their first game by defeating Australia 10-0 in a mercy rule shortened seven inning game. In the 2009 tournament, Team Italy knocked out Team Canada in Round One at the Rogers Centre in Toronto, Canada. Alex Liddi of the Seattle Mariners, who played for Team Italy in the 2009 World Baseball Classic, is the first Italian-born and developed player to play in the Major Leagues.